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REVEALED: Top 10 Salaries In Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is the highest paying GCC country with CEOs and managing directors of multinational and local companies in the Kingdom earning the region’s heftiest wages, according to the Gulf Business 2014 Salary Survey.

While chief executives of global companies earn an average monthly wage of $31,615, those of local companies pocket $22,737. However, the salaries have declined from 2013 when a multinational CEO earned $33,021 while their counterparts in local firms earned $25,343 in Saudi Arabia. All the amounts are averages taken from Asian, Western and Arab expat salaries.

The biggest increase in salaries in the GCC were found among Arab professionals in Saudi Arabia, whose wages rose to an average of $13,042 this year, up 12.21 per cent from $11,632 last year.

The Kingdom also saw the biggest decline in salaries of Western professionals, down from an average of $12,432 last year to $11,080 this year.

Saudi Arabia however maintained its position as the highest paying GCC nation for expatriates, with an average salary of $12,126, according to the survey.

TOP 10 SALARIES IN SAUDI ARABIA

All the amounts are monthly averages taken from Asian, Western and Arab expat salaries.

1. CEO/MD, multinational– $31,615

2. CEO/MD, local company – $22,737

3. Banking, treasury manager – $15,010

4. Construction, project manager – $14,375

5. Information Technology, manager – $12,329

6. Real estate, manager – $12,305

7. Healthcare, general practitioner/ manager–$11,700

8. Banking, branch manager – $11,504

9. Legal, lawyer marketer/manager– $11,071

10. Human Resources manager – $11,012

But the big question for salaries in 2014 is whether companies will continue to maintain current salary levels, or whether improving sentiment will translate into a more competitive market for talent, according to Cliff Single, commercial manager at BAC ME.

“Our expectation is that 2014 will continue to see only gradual salary growth; however, if international and regional economic trends stay positive, we may see a tipping point in the next year with companies needing to bid up salaries as they try to attract new talent,” he said.

Among the factors expected to impact Saudi salaries this year is the Kingdom’s crackdown on illegal workers, with more than 250,000 deported in the three months to January and many hundreds of thousands more leaving on exit visas.

The resulting worker shortage is expected to lead to a significant rise in salary rates, according to experts.

“Saudi Arabia is going to rise. Last year we had said a maximum of six per cent, we see that being a lot more this year,” said Ian Giulianotti, associate director HRM Consulting, Nadia.

“There is a big shortage of supply, if you go into some of the building sites now in Riyadh there are very few people around, and it’s because of all the illegal immigration.”

The 2014 Salary Survey was compiled based on inputs from four regional recruitment companies including Nadia, BAC Middle East, Adecco Middle East and Charterhouse.

For the full survey, pick up the March edition of Gulf Business, available now.